📼 ᐟᐟ☆.  𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗗𝗢𝗘𝗦𝗡❜𝗧 𝗞𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗬𝗢𝗨
𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥. ☆ᐟᐟ 🔦

──★ ˙ ̟. 🚬🪓📺 !! CHAPTER THREE.
╰┈➤ CH. 1 hackett's quarry forever.

𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄

"THE BUGS ARE BITING THE SHIT OUT OF MY LEGS AND THE HEAT IS FRIZZING MY HAIR... SERIOUSLY, WHERE ARE THEY?" Veruca Hollow huffed as she referred to the two missing from the main cabin, Emma and Abi. Her hand fiddled in her pockets before retrieving her signature lip gloss, and in the other she had the camera open on her phone facing toward her. "I thought Emma was the most eager to get out of here..." The blonde said while applying a thick layer along her pouted bottom lip.

      In the corner of her eye, she could see Jacob Custos perk up at Emma's name until he directed his attention to Veruca. "Are you seriously wasting your battery on your lip gloss?"

      Veruca froze in place, rolling her eyes with the wand of the lip gloss just enough away from her lips to allow her to speak. "The same way you waste the energy that the hamsters running around in your brain provide, just to obsess over Emma?" Jacob's shoulders fell as he groaned, and just as he looked up at the sky, he regretted his actions due to the blinding sun. The rest of the group, standing in a circle, Dylan, Kaitlyn, and Nick, all shared a snort. "Seriously, though... not all of us are meatheads who wasted their charge before even getting here."

      Through laughs, Dylan held up his phone, "don't worry, Jacob. I got you. I got a full tank a' gas so..." He was confident until his face fell when he finally opened his phone. "Oh, fuck me."

      "Oh, idiot!" Jacob laughed, prompting Veruca to shut her phone off and put it in her pocket alongside her lip gloss.

      "That's rich coming from the guy who just sat on the steps to cry for ten minutes about how he had no charge," Veruca's arms folded along her chest.

      "Does nobody own phone chargers anymore?" Kaitlyn interjected, still preoccupied with organsing the stack of packed bags in the back of the van. It had been slightly bothering her that Emma and Abi had yet to arrive with their own bags, so she could manage the space better.

      "Eh, there's no signal out here anyway, dude, okay." Jacob tapped the screen of his phone, trying to brush off Veruca's comment about his tantrum just a few minutes prior. "This place is like patchy as balls."

      Dylan lowered his phone, his face twisted with disgust, and a mischievous spark caught in his brown eyes. "Your balls are patchy?"

      Nick got a kick out of the comment, and Veruca couldn't help but let out a giggle as she stood between the Australian and Dylan. Jacob almost looked offended at the comment, "what? No! Dude, my balls are not patchy!"

      "Guess we might just have to ask Emma that one, huh?" The blonde teased, battling her eye lashes and allowing the blue on her eyelids to sparkle.

      Jacob's jaw slackened as he looked at the blonde, "okay, Dylan has seriously been rubbing off on you."

      Silence fell over the group as all of their faces twisted at the phrasing, "maybe we shouldn't be talking about balls and rubbing off on people in the same sentence, Jake."

      "Oh, come on! You guys know what I meant!"

      "It's okay. I'll just go get some juicy from Mr H before we go and..." Given their current conversation, Dylan was cut off by Kaitlyn's clear disgust as her attention kept focusing in and out of the conversation.

      "Uh... ew?" The dark-haired girl went back to checking her phone despite the lack of reception at Hackett's Quarry.

      Behind her, Veruca could finally spot the two girls who had been missing for a prolonged amount of time. Jacob's eyes were already trained on Emma, and Nick's were on Abi. "Shall I roll out the red carpet for the Most Late to the Party awards?" Veruca rocked back and forth on her feet as the girls joined the circle, dropping their bags to the ground as they did so.

      "Yeah, where were you guys?" Nick questioned after greeting the shorter girl he had been crushing on since the first day.

In a totally not-so-obvious way, Emma spun around, slightly restricted by the tight fit of her green turtle neck, "wouldn't you like to know?"

"Ignore her, please!" Abi had already become flustered, and her friend wasn't exactly helping by making the thing going on between her and Nick even more obvious. It was clear that the girl thought nobody around her had any idea, including Nick himself.

"Let's gooo!" Kaitlyn clapped her hands, gaining the attention of the group as they hovered around each other. Her patience was wearing thin, and she wanted to get on the road before the sun went down.

A glint sparked in Emma's eyes, and a small smirk spread across her lips as she locked eyes with Jacob for a few seconds. She awkwardly bent down to the ground to hook her hands through the loops of her loaded bag, "just gotta get these bags up onto the—"

Jacob immediately sprung into action, and Veruca smacked her palm to her forehead. He fell for the bait of embarrassment like an idiot. "Oh, hey, oh here, let me um... let me get them for you."

Straightening her posture, Emma held the bag up like it had no weight to it. "I can take care of my own bag, thank you."

"Wha- are you sure? Cause I mean it's really not that big of a deal-"

Abi interjected, "she can take care of her own bag, thank you."

Veruca's tongue whirled around the back of her mouth and grazed against her back teeth as she tried to bite back her remark. But she couldn't help herself, "watch it."

Abi's lips sealed as she left the rest to Emma. Veruca's jealousy had yet again taken over. She almost felt possessed in the way she didn't enjoy anyone other than her being slightly mean to the idiot.

Jacob took a few steps from the bags on the ground and swung his arms around him. Veruca could see past the facade of him trying not to act hurt, and the look in his dark eyes gave it all away. Emma wasn't a bad person, Veruca knew that. The blonde girl in green just wanted the guy to get over her. It was just a summer fling after all. But what pained Veruca Hollow was the way Jacob couldn't pick up on it. He was too dense to see. Too roped in the idea of loving Emma.

Veruca and Jacob's eyes locked and the blonde was pleading in her glance for him to finally get it in his head. She had told him multiple times, and she just needed him to wake up to the reality. but his eyes diverted back to Emma loading the car. It was useless.

Taking a few sideways steps to his left, Dylan smacked Nick on the shoulder and urged the boy to take charge in helping Abi with her bag. It was awkward and painful, watching the girl drop the bag to the ground instead of passing it like a normal person. But, regardless, Nick helped carry the small backpack to the van.

"Hey, has anyone seen Ryan?" Kaitlyn strolled over to the group, noticing all but one were missing from the circle of counsellors.

Dylan looked around, "oh yeah, he's probably off being all brooding and mysterious and alluring somewhere..."

"Way to make it subtle Dylan," Veruca nudged the taller boy. "He's off preparing his next freak show to prepare for next year's kids so Mr H can get more complaints from the parents."

"Mr H has been getting complaints?" The voice was monotone and deep, forcing Veruca to squeak and jump back as Ryan Erzahler emerged from the darkness beneath the main cabin.

"God, you are so freaky..." Veruca upper lip turned, still spooked from him just appearing out of thin air. "Your stories aren't exactly good for kids that still piss the bed, y'know?" Ryan's face fell at her comment.

Silence fell among the group; they all knew that Ryan's freak stories had been scaring the kids and leaving them unable to sleep at night. Plenty of the campers had come up to Veruca with their complaints about how they feared "monsters" would be hiding under their beds.

"Anyway, what were you doing under there? Having a little 'me party'?" Kaitlyn questioned.

"Uhh... I was listening to a podcast, actually," Ryan held up his phone, and the earphones around his neck gave it away that he was telling the truth. Well, he never did much else anyway. "It's a paranormal podcast. This episode was actually about this place, weirdly enough."

"Oh, that's great!" Veruca flashed a small smile. "Is it possibly about a weird camp counsellor that creeps around the shadows? Cause that's just about the freakest thing with this place..."

"It's actually the Hag of Hackett's Quarry," Ryan stated, his voice a little rougher with more edge to it as he passed the blonde a firm glance. "It's just this campfire story for the kids. Supposedly, right, there's an old woman who died in a fire a few years back. And now, she haunts the woods looking for her lost baby boy."

Veruca wasn't a fan of ghost stories, let alone when they were told by Ryan. A chill ran down her spine. Most of his stories were far away from the Quarry, and this one felt a little too close to home for her liking.

"There are like reports of whispers, or whatever, and this figure that floats around... you know, textbook ghost stuff. Some people say that if she catches you alone, she'll try to turn you into her son... or kill you or something, I dunno... it's never really been clear. Anyways. Hag of Hackett's Quarry," Ryan finally finished his weird rant.

"That's... lovely. Really, Ryan," Veruca's hands rubbed her arms to shake away her goosebumps. "If that's not a sign that we should leave ASAP before some old wrinkled hag turns me into a boy, then I don't know what is..."

"Yeah, you totally made that up!" Kaitlyn could feel goosebumps on her own skin.

Ryan flashed the dark screen of his phone to the circle, "it's right here in the podcast, man."

"Cool story, bro..." Jacob scoffed, not believing an ounce of what stories Ryan had to tell.

"Seriously, though, you guys should've seen the first time he told the story to the kids at the campfire. They were scarred for life." Dylan defended the ghost story.

"Well, I mean, they weren't scarred for life..."

"What's the hold up, Hacketteers?" A voice called from above, forcing the teens to look up toward the balcony. Mr Hackett stood, one hand supporting him as he rested it against the wooden barrier, and the other with a steaming mug. His face almost showed disappointment that they hadn't left yet.

"Heya- yeah, uh, nearly done, Mr H!" Jacob called out.

"If only someone wasn't preoccupied with impressing the ladies with his ghost stories..." Kaitlyn muttered just loud enough for Mr H to overhear.

"I promise you, Kait, no ladies' panties in this circle are wet from the Hag of Hackett's Quarry," Veruca commented, shaking her head so the blonde strands of hair could fall in front of her face and catch on her pierced brow.

Mr H almost looked angry that they were passing around such a ghost story, but he just sipped at his hot drink.

"Hey, you still have the van key, Mr H?" Kaitlyn asked, forcing the man to dig through his pockets before coming out empty-handed.

"You know, I'd lose my head if it wasn't stuck on!" Mr H joked around, earning a smile from most of the Hacketteers. "Back to the office I go... Mind giving me a hand, Ryan?"

"Uh, yeah... sure," Ryan brushed past the group to race up the wooden stairs.

Dylan stepped forward and closer to the cabin so he could make sure the older man could hear him. "Yo, Mr H..."

"Major suck up incoming!" Veruca harshly whispered behind Dylan's back.

"I am not sucking up, thank you very much!" Dylan whispered back before innocently turning back to Mr H. "Any chance that I could maybe get a little charge? I wanna have some tunes for the road."

He was immediately shut down. "Ah, no can do." Mr H said without hesitation.

"Pretty please, Mr H? Otherwise he'll be bugging me for the whole ride," Veruca pressed her hands together to beg. She nudged Dylan, "I got your back. He can't possibly say no to me."

"Still, no can do, Ms Hollow," Mr H took a sip of his drink, "nice try, though."

"Come on, that's like super unchill, man," Dylan threw his arms up before hanging them by his side in defeat. "I just need some tunes for the ride, man. Five minutes, like five minutes, that's all I need."

"He said no, Dylan," Ryan sided with Mr H.

"Okay yeah, I know... but I was just... ugh, never mind," Dylan's shoulders slumped - now more defeated after Ryan's comment.

"What bores," Veruca slid her arm around Dylan's, "don't worry, you can use the rest of my charge until we get home for the sake of your tunes!"

Dylan smiled, although somewhat sad, "ugh, V, why couldn't you have been born a man? I would totally have a thing for you..."

"ALRIGHT HACKETTEERS, TIME TO GET YOUR ASSES IN THE MINIVAN AND GET A MOVE ON," Mr H finally returned with Ryan by his side, passing the keys to the designated driver, Jacob — who had a sly grin on his face as a result of being given the keys. Mr H noticed Jacob's ego-filled demeanor and clicked at him before pointing toward the minivan, "move it, let's go."

"Yeah, yeah, moving it," Jacob started toward the minivan, opening the door and taking a seat inside.

Veruca jumped up, raising her hand toward the sky. "I call dibs on the front seat! Because I don't want to be rubbing up against all of you in the backseat, and my shit's already there! So sucks to suck," she threw up her hand to her forehead in the shape of an L, however it was read backwards to the rest of them. She skipped backwards toward the right side of the van. "Finally, we get to go home! My hair straightener is calling my name..."

As Veruca opened up the passenger door, Jacob slotted the keys into the ignition. But the girl's face fell. With each attempt to start, the engine failed to come to life. She couldn't believe this was happening. She looked past Jacob and through the open window by his head to get some sort of read on Mr H's face.

"What's the problem?" Mr H's voice was panicked, with a sprinkle of annoyance. They had already stayed back too long with the group's inability to organise themselves on time.

"Ugh... dude. I don't know. I- I think there's something wrong with the engine, Mr H," Jacob attempted to start the car again by twisting the keys just to prove his point. "Yeah, dude. It's just like... kaput!"

Veruca's eyes turned to slits as she eyed Jacob. He had been the only one to check out the car today. Yesterday, they had done a check to make sure it was running well before they set off, so that way they could get ahead of any problem they could have encountered. With every reason that she could think of surrounding why the car wouldn't start only lead her to one person. Jacob Custos.

Ryan stepped forward, outstretching his hand, "alright lemme try."

"What? Dude, I'm telling you, alright, it's busted!" Jacob argued, refusing to hand over the keys.

"Yeah, well, maybe you're doing it wrong—"

"Maybe you're doing it wrong," Jacob mocked Ryan in an idiotic tone.

Ryan's upper lip turned as he brought his outstretched hand back to his side, "the fuck, dude?"

"Enough! Both of you!" Mr H wiped the sweat from his brow before opening the door of the driver's seat. It creaked under his aggressive touch. But, he became more aggressive with his panic as he gripped Jacob by the arm, pulling him from the car and forcing him to fall against the ground. "Shit. Come on, come on, let's go."

"Alright, dude, chill!" Jacob patted away the dirt on his hands. "Just take a chill pill, dude!"

Mr H took a seat behind the wheel, turning the keys in the ignition one more time.

Veruca sniffed the air, an unusual smoky aroma infiltrating her nose. Her eyes traveled to where the smell could be coming from. "Holy shit!" Her finger pointed at the hood of the minivan as black smoke erupted from beneath the hood.

"Everyone, get back! Get back!" Mr H urged the group, and it seemed that Veruca had been the only one to listen as Ryan stood still in his place and Jacob rushed around the front of the car. In some sort of "act of bravery", Jacob popped open the hood, forcing the flames to meet with the air and grow heavier by the second. Veruca could feel the heat of the fire sting her cheeks.

Despite usually being slow with her thinking, she was surprisingly quick, and she ran back over to the passenger seat, retrieving a full plastic bottle of water that she had prepared for the trip.

"Here!" She was quick on her feet, twisting the blue cap off before pouring the contents of the bottle over the fire, putting it out before the flames could grow any higher. Tossing the empty bottle back into the passenger seat, she sighed, "glad that's over!"

Mr H's panic carried on, growing worse by the second. He ran a hand through his greying hair as his chest rose and fell. Jacob was quick to pick up on the panic.

"Dude, it's really no big deal... we'll just spend one more night here." Jacob shrugged.

"No- NO. Just stop. Let me think," Mr H placed his hands on his hips as he paced along the dirt. After being given a few moments, he rushed back to the car, raising the hood of the minivan high before slamming it back down. "AHHHHHH!"

"What the fuck...?" Veruca whispered, turning to Dylan. His lips turned down, and his lips pouted as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay. Dammit. You're right. You're right, yeah. Yeah, you're right." Mr H began repeating. It wasn't to anyone in particular, but just to himself.

"Is he having some kind of freak episode? He was totally fine like ten minutes ago..." Dylan observed the seriousness of the situation.

"He clearly wants us out... he wouldn't even give you five minutes to charge your phone..." Veruca folded her arms across her chest.

"Ryan, come here a sec." Mr H rushed to his car, waving Ryan over to join him.

While the rest of them were left to their own thoughts about staying one more night, Veruca's eyes found Jacob. He almost looked proud of the situation, prompting the blonde to rush and find her place by his side. Jacob could see her in the corner of his eyes, but he could feel her harsh stare digging into his back. "What?"

"Don't 'what' me, meathead," Veruca's arms folded around her chest. "What'd you do to the car, hmm?"

Jacob's arms raised in defense, "I didn't do shit," he denied. In a fit of rage, the blonde pulled her phone from the pocket of her denim shorts, tapping the screen and pointing it directly in his face. "Uh, no offense, what am I supposed to be looking at here...?"

"My service, you dip!" Veruca shoved him with her free hand. "I know you did something to the minivan earlier. God, you are so stupid." Veruca continued huffing and puffing as Jacob did nothing but denied his part in the minivan's engine failing. Her groaning was stopped when the tires of Mr H's car squealed, flicking dirt into the air. Covering her eyes, a few stones hit the back of her hand as the car disappeared down the dirt road — leaving nothing but a dirt cloud behind. "Uhm, did Mr H just up and leave us here?"

Ryan walked over with a sigh. Despite being close to Mr H, he was left just as confused as the rest of them. "He uh... said to stay inside. That we're not leaving until the morning."

"Are you... kidding me?" Emma closed her eyes, when she opened them she could already see Jacob giddy with the idea of spending a night with her. Veruca couldn't help the hurt in her chest. Like a knife that twisted. They had hardly spent any time together due to his obsession over Emma the entire summer. And even with one extra night, he was still caught up on her. "Are you kidding me?! What are we supposed to do?"

Everyone passed a glance to the person beside them before falling on broody Ryan, who just shrugged. "Well, we should go inside. Y'know, like he said."

Dylan nodded, pursing his lips, "we could go inside... until morning. Or... we could do something else."

Immediately disagreeing, Ryan shook his head, "no, no and no. We should really listen to what Chris told us to do."

"Of course..." Jacob slapped his hands against his thighs, not surprised by Ryan being loyal to Mr H despite the man just leaving them at the camp.

"Ugh, who cares what Chris told us to do? He's not our boss anymore!" Dylan leaned forward to be slightly in Ryan's face. "P.A.R.T. Why the fuck not? Alright, it seems like the stars have aligned for us. No?"

"Dylan's right," Veruca piped up. "Besides, the suns still up. Might as well have a little fun. And then we'll head inside like Mr H told us to."

"One last epic bonfire blowout for all time!" Dylan nodded his head, encouraging the others within the circle to get in on the idea.

"Oh, dude. Fuck yes! I'm in. Nick, you're in." Jacob clapped, not giving Nick the chance to speak for himself about the idea. "Dylan's in. Obviously. My man. Uh, V, you're in right?"

Veruca knew the party would consist of her mostly feeling jealous, lonely or worse, witnessing Emma finally give into Jacob's advances. But, she still kept the facade of high spirits. "Of course! A little party never killed anyone, right?"

"I mean, people have definitely died at parties, but... I'm in," Kaitlyn raised her arms, "I go where my people need me."

"Yeah! Okay... Em, what do you say?"

Emma pulled her pouted lips from one side to the other, keeping everyone hanging before a grin spread across her face, "yeah, im in!"

Eveyone looked toward Abi who remained shy under their gaze. "I mean... Mr Hackett seemed pretty insistent we stay in the lodge."

"Ugh, boring! Who hired the snoozefest..." Veruca groaned, throwing her head back.

"Right? Mr H was just trying to freak us out! Like... y'know... one of Ryan's stupid ghost stories." Jacob came to Veruca's defense.

Abi looked around, "why would he want to scare us?"

"Because the Hag of Hackett's Quarry is out to get us!" Veruca curled her fingers to imitate Ryan sharing his ghost stories. "C'mon, he was probably just acting weird cause he's sick of us all..."

"I don't think he was trying to freak us out, dude. I think he was really freaked out by something," Ryan argued, growing more agitated by the second. "Okay? Chris seemed real serious about this, guys."

"No nah, dude, dude. It's all good. Alright, we get it, you know. You, uh..." Jacob stepped forward to think, "you don't wanna disappoint 'daddy'."

Then, Ryan finally snapped. "Yeah, well, someone's gotta give a shit!" His posture stiffened as he became tense around everyone. "You know what? I don't even care what you guys do. I'm doing what Chris told me to do."

"Boo!" Jacob cupped his hands around his mouth to project it toward Ryan as he stormed off toward the lodge.

Normally, Veruca would have joined in, but she found herself hitting Jacob to tell him to knock it off. "Enough, Jake. Seriously."

"What? You know I'm just joking around."

"Ryan, come on man, wait!" Dylan looked defeated. He had been excited a few moments ago, and Veruca felt bad for the way they had outcasted Ryan.

Jacobs hands clapped, gaining the attention of everyone within the circle. "Alright, alright, alright, Hacketteers! Party planning committee, Let's do this!" He couldn't wipe the stupid grin from his face. "Um, okay. First things first. Nick and Abi... you go get some firewood. Uh... Emma and I will go to the stores for some supplies. Veruca and Kaitlyn, you can prepare the party space around the bonfire... and uh, Dylan, you just... I don't know, figure out how to charge the phones or something..."

Dylan laughed at being given a useless task, and Veruca's eyes rolled at Jacob's obvious plot to spend more time with Emma. But despite her own disappointment, she could see through Dylan's facade. He was clearly still hurt by the whole Ryan thing.

"Hey," Veruca nudged Dylan in the side, catching his attention. He felt no need to be fake around the girl while everyone set off to do their duties. "Go check up on him... I know you wanna!" She teased.

"That's if he doesn't hate me..." Dylan kicked a rock by his feet, sending it in the direction of the minivan.

Sighing, Veruca pinched his cheeks like a grandmother, "who could ever hate this handsome face! Go get your man! And, maybe cheer him up enough so he'll join the rest of us. I actually kind of want a ghost story around the bonfire..."

Dylan scoffed, "maybe you should go get your man, too!"

"Yeah, well, he's too Emma obsessed," Veruca stuck out her hands, moving around like a zombie in a stereotypical apocalypse movie. "So, all hopes out the window. But love is still in the air for you, Dyl. Go work your magic!"

"Magic working in progress," Dylan waved his arms around, acting as though he had a wand, before walking up the wooden stairs in search of Ryan.

Veruca sighed, watching as Jacob tag teamed with Emma. They walked away from sight in search of the supplies for the party. Kaitlyn followed the blondes gaze before perking up, "ready to spice up the bonfire area?"

"Of course! I mean the whole party depends on us and that's why we got the most important job, right?"

──★ ˙ ̟. 🚬📺 !! 𝕬𝑼𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑹𝑺 𝕹𝑶𝑻𝑬

╰┈➤ um surprise? haven't updated this book since september because i got bored and stuck at the most boring part of the game LMFAO. but anyways, half of you have probably forgotten this story existed and i do not blame u. but i got a sudden burst of energy to write for this fic since i have 4 days off from work. i just wanna get to the action bc this is exactly the same problem i had with my until dawn fic where i stopped writing 😭

╰┈➤ ignore any mistakes, and i hope you enjoyed. vote, comment etc. 🫶🏻